gordon's war (1973)

"You cats are crazy."
Gordon (Paul Winfield) returns from a four year stint in 'Nam to find his Harlem neighbourhood is now rife with drugs. So he does what any self respecting vet would do, sets up a vigilante gang to take down the people responsible...
A run of the mill Blacksploitation, notable only for being Grace Jones first on screen performance.

live and let die (1973)

"He's a Englishman workin' in cooperation with our boys, a sorta... secret agent."
James Bond (Roger Moore) is on the trail of a multi-national heroin supplier (Yaphet Kotto), but one with a weakness for a tarot card reader (Jane Seymour).
Bond enters the world of the Blacksploitation flick, with the raised eye-brow, quipping, version of the secret agent.

the black gestapo (1975)

aka Black Enforcers. Ghetto Warriors.
"You got something against taking care of your people?"
The inner-city People's Army, led by General Ahmed (Rod Perry) tries to rid the local community of Watts of the Mafia. In order to do so a protection squad is set up by Ahmed's second-in-command, Colonel Kojah (Charles Robinson), but this brigade soon becomes as bad as those it railed against.
Subtle this ain't.

jive turkey (1974)

aka Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes. Get N****r Rich on Number 666.
"I've got to be right out there in the middle of it."
Harlem in 1956 and all the action in town is run by Pasha (Paul Harris), but his position is under pressure from the Mafia boss Big Tony (Frank DeKove) and city hall.
Meandering and confused, and very short on action. Though not without its charm.

dolemite (1975)

"I'm gonna let 'em know that Dolemite is back on the scene!"
Pimp and club owner Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is in jail fitted up by some bent cops and his rival Willie Green (D'Urville Martin). The Govenor and an FBI agent come up with a plan to rid the city of these rotten apples by releasing Dolemite and let him at Willie and his associates!
Ultra cheap cash in, that throws in many ideas, but doesn't know how to execute them! Sloppily made, badly acted and incoherent - So bad it's good.

the black 6 (1973)

"There ain't no tomorrow, there is just right now!"
Being a biker is hard enough, but being a black biker gang is even tougher! These Vietnam vets, are happy with their freedom. That is until one (Gene Washington) finds out that his brother has been killed by a white biker gang for going out with a white girl. So what is he meant to do, but find 'em and kill 'em.
A rather tame take on the biker genre, which features a cast of all star football players as the black six.

the guy from harlem (1977)

"Something just doesn't seem to fit." Tough Harlem P.I. Al Conners (Loye Hawkins), now works the mean streets of Florida. He's hired by the CIA to guard visiting African dignitary, Mrs. Ashanti (Patricia Fulton), who is in tow for 24 hours. Having dispensed his unique take on bodyguarding, (by bedding the lady), Al then takes on the case of finding Wanda (Cathy Davis), who has been kidnapped by Big Daddy (Wayne Crawford).
Stilted in all ways, from acting, script and direction. There is nothing going for this little number.

the black godfather (1974)

"Ain't no room for the both of us."
JJ (Rod Perry), has ambition, and wants to see the white heroin cartel is run out of the black neighbourhoods, so he can run it himself. Understandably the cartel are reluctant to give up their market share, and it's only a matter of time before things come to a head. To aid his takeover, JJ recruits a black militant named Diablo (Damu King) and his men in an uneasy truce to fight against the man.
Low key, by the rules of blacksploitation, this story never really catches fire.

black cobra (1987)

aka Cobra Nero.
"Enough with the tears, OK?"
A siege with hostages is in progress, enter Robert Malone (Fred Williamson), who on being told to negotiate and acquiesce the kidnappers demands, shoots them all dead! Can you tell this is a cop playing by his own rules, and getting the job done? Subsequently he is called on to act as witness protection, for Elys Trumbo (Eva Grimaldi), who has witnessed a murder by a psychopathic gang. But should he hole up and stop her from being intimidated? Or should he find them, and deliver some high caliber justice of his own?
By the numbers action flick, that has the Italians taking Dirty Harry as its template, and adds a dash of John Carpenter's synth driven soundtrack. What's not to like?

willie dynamite (1974)

"This is a business baby, a production line..."
Willie (Roscoe Orman) is a pimp, who believes he's created the ideal business model, seven girls, who he aims to use to become number one player in New York city. But whilst trying to keep the other pimps and cops off his case, he is dogged by the toughest social worker (Diana Sands) you'll ever meet, who is determined to make him change his ways.
Not your average blacksploitation, but one that plays with the cliche's running through the core of this tragedy.

black hooker (1974)

aka Street Sisters. Black Mama, Don't Leave Go My Hand.
"it's not my responsibility."
A young boy (Teddy Quinn) grows up estranged from his hooker mother, unloved. As an adult (Durey Mason) he finds nothing but disappointment,compounded when he meets his mother (Sandra Alexandra) appealing for help.
Strange entry into the Blacksploitation canon, being more of a rural melodrama, marketed as blackspoitation. Whatever it is, it's overwrought and stilted.

abby (1974)

aka Possess My Soul.
"Whaddya think of my powers now?"
Bishop Garnet Williams (William Marshal), an anthropologist and minister specialising in African religions, manages to unwittingly release a demon on the world. A spirit that possesses marriage counselor Abby (Carol Speed). Bishop Williams returns to battle the demon, but who will win?
A camp blacksploitation take on The Exorcist, that starts slowly and never picks up the pace.

black fist (1974)

aka Bogard. The Black Streetfighter.
"There's a black lion walking in your jungle."
Young buck Leroy Fisk (Richard Lawson) is in need of some money, and to make it he agrees to become part of a gangster's (Robert Burr) stable of streetfighters.
A below average blacksploitation, lifted by the central performance of Lawson, making the film almost enjoyable.

blacula (1972)

"Say man, that is one strange dude."
Prince Mamuwald (William Marshall) is turned into a vampire by Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay), and 200 years later finds himself shipped over to LA and there he finds Tina (Vonetta McGee) whom he mistakes for his long lost princess.
Boy does he need to go on an anger management course and de-stress.

t.n.t. jackson (1974)

aka Dynamite Wong and TNT Jackson.
"You want it black, you got it black!"
A bad ass young woman, Diana Jackson (Jeannie Bell) visits Hong Kong in an attempt to find her brother's killer. She soon befriends a Chinese guy called Joe (Chiquito), and is in the thick of the action battling a drug lord and his bitchy girlfriend.
A weak attempt to meld the martial arts and Blacksploitation worlds, lacking the charisma and fluid action of other better known Blacksploitation flicks.

truck turner (1974)

"You're a gross son of a bitch."
Truck Turner (Isaac Hayes) is a tough as nails bails bondsman. When a crook dies in a shootout, his partner (Nichelle Nichols) puts a hit on Truck in revenge. Can Truck survive the mean streets with a number of pimps after him, especially Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto).
A cool soundtrack courtesy of Isaac Hayes, only adds to the pleasure of this blacksploitation classic.
AIP, Jonathan Kaplan, Blacksploitation, MGM,

kentucky fried movie (1977)

aka Hamburger film sandwich.
'Moscow in flames, missiles headed toward New York. Film at eleven.'
Before Airplane and the Naked Gun, there was Kentucky Fried Movie, where the Zucker and Abraham's team cut their teeth, in shorter highly irreverent sketches, spoofing the movie (martial arts, blacksploitation, disaster and sexploitation films), and TV (adverts, and news programming) industry. At the centre is the mighty A Fistful of Yen, a spoof on Enter The Dragon.
As these are skits, it's a bit hit and miss, but mostly they hit their target. Rude, crude, but also funny.

coffy (1973)

"She's a wild animal! I've got to have that girl."
Coffy (Pam Grier) is a nurse who decides to go undercover as a prostitute for King George (Robert Doqui), so she can take revenge on the drug dealers who got her 11-year-old sister addicted to heroin.
The film that sealed Pam's reputation as the queen of Blacksploitation. An action packed, funk driven ride.

scream blackula scream (1973)

"I don't have any 'bread' on me, and as for 'kicking my ass' I'd strongly suggest you give it careful consideration before trying."
A usurped voodoo priest takes revenge by bringing back the vampire Mamuwalde or Blacula (William Marshall), to you or me. Unleashing him to slake his blood lust.
A comic horror featuring Pam Grier, playing against type as a vunerable damsel in distress.

hit man (1972)

"I ain't begun to get on your case, brother!"
Blacksploitation re-make of the classic Get Carter. Expect afro's and lots of jive talk as Tyrone Tackett (Bernie Casey) stomps around Harlem attempting to find out how and why his brother ended up taking a swim with his waterwings. ? (Pam Grier) offers little or no help on the subject. Loses the class of the original, replaced by a nastier more streetwise feel. Where they go to the horse races in Get Carter, here they go to the dog fights!